Over the years I’ve collected some great pieces of gear. I don’t love every piece of gear I obtain, not by a long shot. And generally, before I invest any amount of money, I research the heck out of the product before pulling the trigger. If you’re on a research journey maybe my experience with these products will assist you in some way. Below are four items I ended up loving and these have all become essential pieces of my home studio and gigging rig at one time or another.
Gear discussed in this article:
- Zoom R8 Multitrack Recorder
- Turbo Tuner
- Stage Right 15w Tube Amp
- Roland Blues Cube Artist
Zoom R8 Multitrack Recorder
While there is ample debate around whether recording to a computer or to a dedicated device is better, I’ve come to appreciate the dedicated multitrack recorder. What I love most about the Zoom R8 is that after a recording session I can take the SD card right out of the R8, insert it into my computer, and immediately begin using the .wav files with Reaper (one of the music apps I love, as it happens). It’s a good workflow. This is how I made the humble (and sometimes imperfect) recordings you’ll find sprinkled throughout ImperfectGuitarist.com. https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/digital-mixer-multi-track-recorders/multi-track-recorders/r8/
Turbo Tuner
When Summer arrives so do the outdoor gigs. While clip-on tuners are fine for most environments, the LED screens become nearly impossible to see when playing in the sun. Enter the Turbo Tuner pedal (https://www.turbo-tuner.com/). Not only is it more accurate than my clip-ons, it’s easy to read in direct sunlight. I use the ST-300 mini (https://www.turbo-tuner.com/pages/manual-st3m.htm) because it fits well on my meager pedal board.
Stage Right 15w Tube Amp
I started my guitaring (“guitaring” is now a word. You’re welcome.) life on acoustic and although I loved playing my electric guitars it was years before I fully grasped the undeniably huge role the guitar amp plays in the electric guitar’s sound. In fact, I now look at the whole electric rig (guitar, amp, pedals) as “the instrument.” As such, at some point I began hunting for my first tube amp, eager to experience the tone nirvana about which I’d heard so many guitarists gush. One amp surfaced again and again in my research: the Stage Right 15w from Monoprice. The price point was outstanding compared to other tube amps, and the reviews were nearly unanimously positive. And upon receiving and playing with it, the amp did not disappoint in the slightest. I finally understood: the tubes, without any effects at all, give an awesome tone with enough of a fuzzy edge to make my guitar sound like the blues machine I’d always wanted. https://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=611815
Roland Blues Cube Artist
At the time of this writing, Russia’s war with Ukraine rages on. One thing I didn’t realize is that pretty much all the world’s supply of tube-amp tubes comes from Russia. Russian imports to the U.S. are currently banned. I don’t know what the long term effects will be on tube amps outside of Russia, but at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any impact here in the States. At the same time, I thought this would be a good opportunity to reexamine solid state (all electronic, no tubes) amps and find one that would survive an extended tube drought. Enter the Roland Blues Cube Artist. Roland’s development team designed it to look, feel, sound, and behave just like a tube amp. Its raw power far surpasses that of my beloved Stage Right, and it requires no warm-up time or tube swaps. And at 35 lbs it’s half the weight of my other beloved gigging amp, the Fender Deville 2×12. Oh, and the Roland Blues Cube Artist sounds awesome. Introduced in 2014, it’s not new on the market so you’ll have no trouble finding reviews and demos. https://www.roland.com/us/products/blues_cube_artist/
That’s a short list of some of my favorite gear! I hope you found this list interesting. If you have any comments feel free to drop me a line at imperfectguitarist@outlook.com.
